The Sammi Graduation

 

Sam's hat art

Tickets and program art

Before the commencement, they were adding social media posts of Ringling grad hat pictures

Zach, Jason's best friend came in, and Jason's brother Josh (center) also made the trip.

Back at the bungalow, where most everything is packed. After the Disney weekend, cross country back to Colorado

this is like one of two photos over the entire week that I got with Sam

started raining on the way back to Orlando, which included some really bad accidents and traffic snarls, but also this rainbow

I had rented a 7 seater SUV so we would be able to transport Bill, Julie, Nick, Ali, Bob, and me in one vehicle from Orlando to Sarasota. It was fancy, with a ton of bells and whistles and touch screens and sensors. Best feature: seat fan air conditioning!

However...

Sometimes simple is best. Case in point.

Detail that will come into play here: at noon, it's hot. I set the seat fans on high and the AC on super cold.

I also spent time punching through a million buttons to set up the vehicle's navigation to the airport and to our destinations in Sarasota the next day.

We had picked up the Explorer at noon on Wednesday, knowing Nick and Ali would need a ride when they came in at midnight. The plan was for Julie to ride along and navigate. And also to grab her toll box to make it quick. We'd taken the non-toll route to their house that afternoon and wound through various neighborhoods. Not ideal for midnight and wanting to get back home for as much sleep as possible. 

But then the flight out of Austin was badly delayed. Revised arrival: 3:15 a.m.

So I went to bed at 8:00 and set my alarm for 2:50, ten minutes to get out the door, fifteen to get to the airport.

When my phone started playing music, I thought it was the alarm, only to pick it up and see on the screen Nick's face and phone number.

"Hi Mom, are you here?"

It's 2:40. 

Nick had texted me three times after I'd gone to sleep to send updated info and the notifications had not made a sound. They had gotten in at 2:20.

I leapt up, grabbed my glasses to be able to see the road to drive, pulled on my clothes and raced for the car only to remember, I needed the toll box. I didn't want to wake Julie and wait for her to get dressed and ready, but I couldn't find her keys. 

Bill had said he'd be up in the wee hours working, and I saw light from his office door, so I knocked, but no answer. I finally roused Julie to tell me where her keys were so I could grab the toll box and remote for the gate at the front of the community. 

I'm trying to see her keys to push the lock button on her car when Bill comes out and says, "Do you want me to go with you?"

Thinking he was still working, I waved him off and said I'd be fine, handed him Julie's keys to make sure it was locked, and hopped in the Explorer. I push my glasses to the top of my head so I can read the car screen, pushed all the buttons to get navigation started to the airport, and headed out. It was 3:00. 

I realize it's getting cold in the car, right about the time I realize I don't know how to adjust the AC settings, nor can I see the screen in the vehicle and see the road at the same time. 

The nav lady voice takes me straight to the tollway... That is closed all night under construction.

And I'm starting to shiver. 

I try to route around the closure but get the sense could be headed in the wrong direction.

The stupid navlady keeps telling me to make a u turn and go back to the closed stuff, so she's useless.

I pull over, take off my glasses, and get my Waze app running that I trust to route me around closures. 

But.

I had set it up to avoid toll roads and had to spend time finding the setting in there to change it back to include tollways

Tick.tick.tick.

I get my British Waze guy talking through the car speakers only to realize after setting back out on the road, the dumb nav lady is talking over him, still giving wrong directions!

I try to pick up the phone to double check the map only to have the Waze app block my view because I am driving. 

I also can't really see the screen.

So I have to listen to competing voices the rest of the way there, and they tell me different directions each time. Luckily, the voices are distinct enough and are not talking over one another very often. 

I'm now shaking uncontrollably because I'm so damn cold.

British Waze guy navigates me to departures. Of course, in my state at 3:30 in the morning, I follow without snapping to the fact that they would be at arrivals. If this airport is anything like Denver, it's a whole mess to get out and back around to a lower level. 

I pull over in the completely empty departures lane and call Nick. and he can tell by my cracking voice the best thing to do is walk up a level and find me instead of  me trying to drive around again and work it out.

Bless him, as soon as he got in the car he starting working through the endless screens and got the nav lady to shut up and found the AC settings so it wasn't a meat locker.

Sure enough, it only took us 15 minutes to get back and we were all in bed by 4. 

I managed to get back to sleep for two hours which gave me my 8. Not perfect, but enough to drive to Sarasota and back without being impaired.  

I don't need a new car with all the fancy stuff. 

But I do need bifocals.